View source for Accipiter

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Accipiter_nisus_1_(Bohuš_Číčel).jpg
| image_caption = [[Accipiter nisus]]
| taxon = Accipiter
| authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
| type_species = ''[[Eurasian sparrowhawk|Falco nisus]]''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=36 |title= Accipitridae |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-26}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = [[Linnaeus]], 1758
| synonyms = ''Hieraspiza'' <small>Kaup, 1844 (but see text)</small>
}}
'''''Accipiter''''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|k|ˈ|s|ɪ|p|ə|d|ə|ɹ}}) is a [[genus]]  of [[Bird of prey|birds of prey]] in the family [[Accipitridae]]. Most species are called [[sparrowhawk]]s, but there are many sparrowhawks in other genera too, such as ''[[Tachyspiza]]''.

These birds are slender with short, broad, rounded wings and a long tail which helps them maneuver in flight. They have long legs and long, sharp talons used to kill their prey, and a sharp, hooked bill used in feeding. Females tend to be larger than males. They often ambush their prey, mainly small birds and mammals, capturing them after a short chase. The typical flight pattern is a series of flaps followed by a short glide. They are commonly found in wooded or shrubby areas.

The [[genus]] ''Accipiter'' was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques  | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie; ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, espéces & leurs variétés | volume=1 | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | place=Paris | language=fr | pages=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010426 28], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010826 310]}}</ref> The type species is the [[Eurasian sparrowhawk]] (''Accipiter nisus'').<ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 1 | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=323 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108963 }}</ref>  The name is [[Latin]] for "hawk", from ''accipere'', "to grasp".<ref name=Jobling>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n30 30]}}</ref>

==Procoracoid foramen==

The procoracoid [[foramen]] (or coracoid foramen, coracoid fenestra) is a hole through the process at the front of the [[coracoid]] bone, which accommodates the supracoracoideus nerve.  In some groups of birds it may be present as a notch, or ''incisura''; or the notch may be partially or weakly closed with bone.  In other groups the feature is completely absent.

The foramen is generally present in birds of prey, but it is absent in most ''Accipiter'' hawks that have been studied. This absence is proposed as a diagnostic feature.

A study of accipitrid skeletons found procoracoid incisurae (as opposed to foramina) in some specimens of the eagles ''Aquila gurneyi'' and ''A. chrysaetos'', but not in four other ''Aquila'' species.  The notch was variably open or weakly ossified in ''Spizastur melanoleucos'',  ''Lophoaetus occipitalis'', ''Spizaetus ornatus'', and ''Stephanoaetus coronatus''.  Also the buteonine hawks ''Buteo brachyurus'' and ''B. hemilasius'' had incisurae, differing from 17 other ''Buteo'' species.<ref name="Olson1988">{{cite journal|last1=Olson|first1=Storrs|title=Variation in the procoracoid foramen in the Accipitridae|journal=Riv. Ital. Orn.|date=1988|volume=57|issue=3–4|pages=161–164|url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/12800/VZ_204_Procoracoid_Accipitridae.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|access-date=18 June 2016}}</ref>

In ''Circus'' the foramen was found to be variable, not only within species but even between sides in the same individual.  It is usually open or absent but may be closed by "a thread of bone".  Research in genetic phylogeny has since indicated that ''Circus'' is closely related to ''Accipiter''.

The notch was also absent or indistinct in ''Harpagus bidentatus''.

''Urotriorchis macrourus'' has a well-developed procoracoid foramen, which suggests a separation from ''Accipiter''.  It may be related to the chanting goshawks in tribe Melieraxini.<ref>[http://jboyd.net/Taxo/List9.html Boyd, John. "Afroaves", ''Taxonomy in Flux Checklist'']</ref>

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Accipiter'' formerly contained around 50 species. A series of [[molecular phylogenetic]] studies found that the traditional arrangement was non-[[monophyletic]]. The publication of a densely sampled study of the [[Accipitridae]] in 2024 allowed the generic boundaries to be redefined.<ref>{{Cite book | last1=Mindell | first1=D. | last2=Fuchs | first2=J. | last3=Johnson | first3=J. | date=2018 | chapter=Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes  | editor1-last=Sarasola | editor1-first=J.H. | editor2-last=Grange | editor2-first=J.M. | editor3-last=Negro | editor3-first=J.J. | title=Birds of Prey: Biology and conservation in the XXI century | location=Cham, Switzerland | publisher=Springer | isbn=978-3-319-73744-7 | pages=3–32 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326086278 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Catanach | first1=T.A. | last2=Halley | first2=M.R. | last3=Pirro | first3=S. | date=2024 | title=Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus ''Accipiter'' (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) | journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society | pages=blae028 | doi=10.1093/biolinnean/blae028}}</ref> To create monophyletic genera, species were moved from ''Accipiter'' to five new or resurrected genera leaving only 9 species in ''Accipiter''. The southeast Asian [[crested goshawk]] and the [[Sulawesi goshawk]] were found to be only distantly related to other species in ''Accipiter''. They were moved to a resurrected genus ''[[Lophospiza]]'', the only genus placed in the new [[subfamily]] Lophospizinae. Similarly, the very small south America [[tiny hawk]] and [[semicollared hawk]] were found to be only distantly related to species in ''Accipiter''. They were moved to a newly erected genus ''[[Microspizias]]'' which together with ''[[Harpagus (bird)|Harpagus]]'' is placed in the subfamily [[Harpaginae]]. The genera ''[[Circus (bird)|Circus]]'', ''[[Megatriorchis]]'', and ''[[Erythrotriorchis]]'' were found to be nested within ''Accipiter''.  Rather than subsuming these genera into an expanded ''Accipiter'', species were moved from ''Accipiter'' to the resurrected genera ''[[Aerospiza]]'', ''[[Tachyspiza]]'' and ''[[Astur (genus)|Astur]]''.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/| publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=29 August 2024 }}</ref>

==List of ''Accipiter'' species==
There are 9 species in the ''Accipiter'' genus.<ref name=ioc/>
{{Species table |genus= Accipiter  |authority-name=[[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]]|authority-year= 1760 |species-count=nine|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Madagascar sparrowhawk]]|binomial=[[Accipiter madagascariensis]]
|image=File:Madagascar Sparrowhawk - Andasibè - Madagascar S4E7858 (15102515088).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[Andrew Smith (zoologist)|Smith]]|authority-year=1834  |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Madagascar
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=3,300–6,700<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Accipiter madagascariensis'' |page=e.T22695613A129916593 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22695613A129916593.en}}</ref>
|direction={{decrease}}
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Ovambo sparrowhawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter ovampensis]]
|image=File:Accipiter ovampensis 1501561.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[John Henry Gurney|Gurney]]|authority-year= 1875 |authority-not-original=
|range= [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Accipiter ovampensis'' |page=e.T22695619A93519626 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695619A93519626.en}}</ref>
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Eurasian sparrowhawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter nisus]]
|image=File:Eurasian Sparrowhawk by Steve Ward.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]|authority-year=[[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]] |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Europe and Asia
|range-image=File:AccipiterNisusIUCNver2018 2.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=2,200,000–3,300,000<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International. |year=2021 |title=''Accipiter nisus'' |page=e.T22695624A199751254 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22695624A199751254.en}}</ref>
|direction={{steady}}
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Six subspecies |bullets=on
|''A. n. granti'' 
|'' A. n. melaschistos'' 
|''A. n. nisosimilis'' 
|''A. n. nisus''
|'' A. n. punicus''
|''A. n. wolterstorffi''
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Rufous-breasted sparrowhawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter rufiventris]]
|image=File:Accipiter rufiventris 134373850.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[Andrew Smith (zoologist)|Smith]]|authority-year=1830 |authority-not-original=
|range=  Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Accipiter rufiventris'' |page=e.T22695630A93520985 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695630A93520985.en}}</ref>
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on
| ''A. r. perspicillaris'' - (Rüppell, 1836)
| ''A. r. rufiventris'' - Smith, A, 1830
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Grey-bellied hawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter poliogaster]]
|image=File:Accipiter poliogaster 19994665.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[Coenraad Jacob Temminck|Temminck]]|authority-year=1824 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, the two Guyanas, Suriname, eastern Ecuador, central and eastern Peru, Amazonian Brazil, northern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and northeast Argentina
|range-image=File:Range Map Grey-Bellied Hawk.jpg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= NT
|population=1,000–10,000<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Accipiter poliogaster'' |page=e.T22695453A93510396 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695453A93510396.en}}</ref>
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Sharp-shinned hawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter striatus]]
|image=File:Accipiter striatus, Canet Road, San Luis Obispo 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[Louis Pierre Vieillot|Vieillot]]|authority-year=1808  |authority-not-original=
|range= North America, Central America, South America and the Greater Antilles.
|range-image=File:Accipiter striatus map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2019 |title=''Accipiter striatus'' |page=e.T22734130A155416546 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22734130A155416546.en}}</ref>
|direction={{increase}}
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Ten subspecies |bullets=on
| ''[[Sharp-shinned Hawk|A. s. chionogaster]] ''
|''[[Rufous-thighed hawk|A. s. erythronemius]] ''
|''A. s. fringilloides ''
|''A. s. madrensis'' 
|''A. s. perobscurus'' 
|''A. s. striatus ''
|''A. s. suttoni ''
|''A. s. velox ''
|''[[Accipiter striatus venator|A. s. venator]] ''
|''[[Plain-breasted hawk|A. s. ventralis]]''
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[White-breasted hawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter chionogaster]]
|image=File:Accipiter chionogaster, Tonalá, Chiapas, Mexico 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=[[Johann Jakob Kaup|Kaup]]|authority-year=1852 |authority-not-original=
|range= Central America 
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= 
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Plain-breasted hawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter ventralis]]
|image=File:Accipiter ventralis 2.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name= [[Philip Sclater|PL Sclater]]|authority-year=1866 |authority-not-original=
|range= Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, [[Bolivia]]
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= 
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Rufous-thighed hawk]] |binomial=[[Accipiter erythronemius]]
|image=File:Accipiter striatus -Horto Florestal de Sao Paulo, Brazil-8.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name= [[Johann Jakob Kaup|Kaup]]|authority-year=1850 |authority-not-original=
|range= Bolivia, [[Brazil]], [[Paraguay]], [[Uruguay]], [[Argentina]]
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= 
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/end}}


== Notes ==
{{Notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Balete, Danilo S.; Tabaranza, Blas R. Jr. & Heaney, Lawrence R. (2006): An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Camiguin Island, Philippines. ''[[Fieldiana Zoology|Fieldiana Zool.]] New Series'' '''106''': 58–72. <small>[[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]]:10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106[58:AACOTB]2.0.CO;2</small> [http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106%5B58:AACOTB%5D2.0.CO%3B2 HTML abstract]
* Heaney, Lawrence R. & Tabaranza, Blas R. Jr. (2006): Mammal and Land Bird Studies on Camiguin Island, Philippines: Background and Conservation Priorities. ''[[Fieldiana Zoology|Fieldiana Zool.]] New Series'' '''106''': 1–13. <small>[[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]]:10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106[1:MALBSO]2.0.CO;2</small> [http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3158/0015-0754(2006)106%5B1:MALBSO%5D2.0.CO%3B2 HTML abstract]
* [[Storrs Olson|Olson, Storrs L.]] (2006): Reflections on the systematics of ''Accipiter'' and the genus for ''Falco superciliosus'' Linnaeus. ''[[Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|Bull. B.O.C.]]'' '''126''': 69–70. [http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1760/1/Accipiter.pdf PDF fulltext]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201244/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1760/1/Accipiter.pdf Archived copy].

==External links==
{{Commons category|Accipiter}}
* [http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/accipiters.html Pictures of Accipiters and information about North American Accipiters]
* [http://www.mikosanat.com/kus/atmaca/atmaca.html Accipiter Photos]

{{Accipitrimorphae|A.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q188737}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Accipiter| ]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]
[[Category:True hawks]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson]]